As I sat in a cramped airline seat going back to San Francisco, I cannot help my anger with BP turning to rage. Sitting in an airport terminal yesterday early evening, I was listening to Anderson Cooper of CNN report that BP had just released high definition video clip of the severed riser pipe to the public. BP did not do this voluntarily. In fact they were once again forced by Congressman Ed Markey and Senator Barbara Boxer to do so.

All along BP had full access to high definition video of the broken riser pipes but seemed to have criminally withheld the high resolution video from government convened teams of scientists tasked with figuring out how much the volcanic oil geyser is spewing out to the gulf.

Despite having this video capability from the first week of the spill, BP led the nation into a never-ending string of lies and deceit. BP clearly knew the riser pipe is 21 inches (the size of a manhole cover) yet they knowingly issued a statement that the oil geyser was spewing 1,000 barrels a day during the first week. From what we know today, it’s clear they BP lied about the initial 1,000 barrels/day figure.

HIGH RESOLUTION VIDEO CLIP

When the visual evidence presented by commercial satellites and Google Earth imagery became overwhelming, BP upped the spewing amount to 5,000 barrels a day. Today June 9, because it if convenient and favorable to BP, they claim they are collecting 15,000 barrels a day. Their last official “spill estimate” was 5,000 gallons per day. If it does not make sense to you — That is what happens when you get caught in a lie. I would add and allege an intentional criminal lie by BP.

NASA IMAGERY OIL GUSHER AND SLICK PROGRESSION

When congressional inquiries threatened them with contempt of congress, BP reluctantly allowed one low resolution fuzzy video clip of the spewing riser pipe. Fortunately the world of science did not stand still. Using the limited video clip, scientists were able to come up with an scientific guesstimate of 10,000 – 19,000 barrels a day.

It was probably then when BP understood they had very limited options. Under more pressure from Congressman Markey’s committee, BP released at first a single low resolution camera feed then the full 8 camera low resolution video feed.

Yesterday day 50, June 9, 2010, BP relented yet again to Markey’s demands and released one high definition video clip. It was only yesterday – Day 50 that the scientists tasked with figuring out the amount of oil spewing saw the high definition video clip. BP still refuses to provide high definition video feeds despite demands from Congressman Ed Markey and Senator Barbara Boxer’s respective committees.

Scientists very quickly revised their previous estimates that were based on the fuzzy, low resolution video feeds.

A University of California researcher and member of the Obama Administration’s Flow Rate Technical Group said Monday June 7 that BP’s leaking Gulf oil well could be leeching 20 times as much oil as the company originally claimed. Ira Leifer, noted that even BP itself estimated the worst-case flow of an oil leak in the Gulf could reach 100,000 barrels a day.

Leifer cited satellite data that appeared to show the leaking well’s flow was increasing over time. He also noted that BP’s decision to drill open a pipe in an effort to place a “hat” on the damaged well had substantially increased the amount of oil that may be spewing into the sea.

The new number is 100,000 barrels – 200,000 barrels per day.

I repeat. 100,000 barrels – 200,000 barrels per day is pouring into Gulf of Mexico.

The math is staggering 100,000 barrels X 42 gallons per barrel = 4,200,000 gallons per day. And today being day 50, the volcanic oil rupture has released 210,000,000 gallons in to the gulf coast of the United States. Using the upper limit of the new scientific estimates, we could be talking about 8,400,000 gallons of light Louisiana crude per day poisoning the gulf coast.

The response to a 1,000 barrels/day oil spill is vastly different from the response to a 100,000 – 200,000 barrels/day volcanic oil gusher.

It’s really hard not to hurl invectives at BP.

That’s not the only lie. Drawings released to the press by BP showed a clean cut of the broken riser pipe with a significant amount of clearance. The new high definition video clearly shows that the cut and shear procedure failed miserably and there is zero hope to catch a majority of the spewing oil. The sealing grommet cannot form a seal tight enough to capture most of the oil. It’s not possible.

It is also clear the four vents were placed not just to control methane hydrate ice crystal formation; Their primary role is to divert the massive pressure from the oil gusher.

BP now is in apparent collusion with US Fish and Wildlife and the Coast Guard to continue to hide the wanton damage, injury and death to wildlife and marine life. In the same reporting today by Anderson Cooper, BP officials refused CNN’s request to video tape injured birds being transported. BP’s reason? “Cameras could further stress the birds.” You’d think BP can come up with a more clever reason.

Also today Wednesday, BP’s chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, continued to insist on NBC’s “Today” show that no underwater oil plumes in “large concentrations” had been detected from the spill, saying that it “may be down to how you define what a plume is here.”

BULLS***!!!

Use of dispersants actually make cleanup far more difficult as our satellites and aircraft monitoring cannot see underwater plumes. It is a travesty that the EPA and the US Coast Guard allows BP to hide the physical evidence of oil slicks. The dynamic is simple, you can react to what you can see. If you cannot see an underwater plume, you cannot suck it. You cannot vaccum it. You cannot boom it. You cannot skim it. Dispersed oil lurks like an evil insidious monster — Only an oil plume is a very real monster with real physical and devastating consequences.

FOX NEWS: THERE IS A HUGE OIL PLUME: WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE DOES BP NEED?

The fact is we should stop the use of dispersants and focus on physically sucking the oil from the ocean’s surface. Dispersants are part of BP’s grand lie to America.

…AND MORE EVIDENCE OF PLUMES FROM A VETERAN OIL RIG DIVER

Here is the criminal aspect of this whole matter. The federal and state governments’ response is directly proportional to knowing how much oil is gushing out. Laws also have dollar penalties directly proportional to the total oil discharge.

Remember CEO Tony “I Want My Life Back” Hayward’s $50 million ad spend? Did you hear we will pay all “legitimate” claims? Well that’s code for, “We’ll pay you but sue us first and prove it in court!” Exxon Valdez litigation went on for over 20 years before the victims got anything. “Legitimate claims” will likely take 20 years.

There is no other way to protect the victims of this oil gusher than to legislate an unlimited cap on damages and limits on the litigation process. We cannot allow BP to drag this matter for 20 years.

Criminal wrongdoing including willfully withholding information crucial to cleanup and recovery should include massive fines and real jail time and hard time to include executives. We already have mechanisms to put companies in temporary receivership. It is clear that BP cannot be trusted at all. In my opinion, it’s time to use RICO statutes against BP.

Using RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes – 27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes – within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering.

Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. I am sure BP CEO Hayward would not care about the $25,000 fine but a 20-year sentence even in a Club Fed low security prison will get his attention. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of “racketeering activity.” RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages. There are a lot of private individuals harmed in the gulf.

It is clear someone ordered the suppression of high definition video feeds. Clearly someone ordered the intentional under-reporting of amounts of oil spewed. Withholding this information in time of a gigantic disaster has clearly affected the response of the parishes, cities, states and the federal government. It is plain criminal.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder should indict BP executives under RICO and seek a pre-trial restraining order or injunction to temporarily seize BP’s assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property as well as require the defendant to put up a performance bond.

Who wants to make a bet that BP is now shuffling assets and corporate addresses and jurisdictions? Who wants to bet that a Chapter 11 filing is in the making to protect all of BP’s assets and limit liabilities?

A RICO-related charge is considered easy to prove in court, as it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts. I am not a lawyer but from my point of view BP’s patterns of behavior is clearly criminal. I don’t think any jury in the gulf coast would disagree.

Liar, liar… pants on fire. Seize BP and send the BP employees and executives responsible for this disaster to jail.